


The Peace Carol

by clgfanfic



Category: Poltergeist: The Legacy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-01
Updated: 2012-11-01
Packaged: 2017-11-17 12:02:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/551332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clgfanfic/pseuds/clgfanfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A tag to the Poltergeist: The Legacy Christmas episode "The Gift."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Peace Carol

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in the zine The Yule Tide #3 and later in Black Ops #7 under the pen name Rachael Squire.

Finishing his Christmas Day journal entry, Derek Rayne closed the leather bound book, set it back in his desk drawer and pushed it closed.  That done, he stood, placed his hands on his hips and arched his back to ease the slight ache that had settled there.  Checking the clock, he was surprised to find it nearing midnight. He and the other members of the San Francisco Legacy house had spent a long Christmas Eve dealing with the visitation of two ghosts.  As a result, Christmas Day had started late, and, it appeared, was now ending equally late.

With a rueful shake of his head, he walked to his office door and turned off the lights.  In the hallway he discovered that while everyone seemed to be abed, lights and gaily decorated Christmas trees still twinkled throughout portions of the house.

In a pattern he'd developed over the course of many years on Angel Island, Derek passed through the first floor rooms, checking security systems, windows and turning off lights.  Pausing in the kitchen midway on his rounds, Derek made himself a cup of tea.  Adding a teaspoon of honey, he stirred, rinsed the silver spoon and left it on the drain-board to be washed in the morning.  Then, carrying the cup with him, he continued on.

The living room where they'd spent the morning unwrapping gifts was his last stop.  He paused in the doorway, enjoying the disheveled chaos of the room.  After the tension of Christmas Eve, the morning had gone better than he'd anticipated.  The ability of children to bounce back after traumas never failed to amaze him, and Kat was particularly exceptional.  He shook his head slightly.  It's not every day that the ghosts of your dead brother and father appear, bearing gifts, no less.

That Connor had wanted to keep his sister on the other side was also to be expected.  The boy was angry, his life cut short in an automobile accident.  It was natural that he would resent the life his sister still possessed.  But in the end it was Patrick Corrigan who sent Kat back.  Not an easy thing for the man.  He was obviously a caring husband and father, and that Kat still loved him deeply was plain.

Derek noticed the handcrafted Russian doll her father had somehow delivered from the other side sitting at one corner of the long couch.  The large painted eyes regarded him with a happy twinkle and Derek allowed himself a thin smile.  He and Kat still had at least one unresolved issue to work out.  A kiss.

Where did children acquire their uncanny ability to interrupt adult situations that could not really be explained?  Kat catching him kissing her mother was a perfect example, and an incident that still hung between them, stifling the usual easy rapport they'd developed.

Deciding that he wasn't as tired as he'd thought, Derek sat his cup down on the bookcase and returned to the kitchen for a plastic garbage bag.  Returning to the living room, he took a sip of tea, then moved into the room to gather up the wads and pieces of wrapping paper, ribbon and brightly colored bows that littered the floor.  It wasn't until he worked himself nearer to the tree that he noticed he wasn't alone.

"Kat, what are you doing up?" he asked the eight-year-old.

The girl, who sat with her back to him, merely shrugged.

Despite the unresolved issues that needed to be settled, he wasn't sure midnight was the best time to address them.  Still, fate didn't seem to be giving him much of a choice.

He finished gathering up the discarded paper and ribbon, stuffing it all into the soon bulging plastic bag before tugging the drawstring closed and setting the bag next to the tree.  Beneath the decorated boughs opened gifts lay scattered about.

Kat remained rooted in her spot, staring at the lights and ornaments and ignoring Derek as he worked.  When he left the bag next to the tree, retrieved his cup of tea and took a seat on the floor next to her she sighed softly.  Adults always had to get right to the point.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked.

She shrugged again, but added, "I couldn't sleep."

He sipped his tea, deliberating on his next comment.  "Want to talk about it?"

Kat shook her head. 

Derek finished his tea, then balanced the empty cup on his knee.  "You know, your father loves you very much—"

"I know that," she snapped, finally glancing at him for the first time.

Derek nodded.  "Okay, good.  And you understand why you and your mother could not stay with him and your brother?"

She looked away.  "Because they're dead and we're not," she summed up succinctly and sadly.

"That's right," Derek said.  "Your father wants you and your mother to have a long, happy life here in this world before you join him and Connor in the next.  But they will be there, waiting for you, watching over you."

Kat shifted, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs.  "Do you love my mother?" she asked, still staring at the lights.

Derek opened his mouth to answer, but paused, knowing that he had to tread lightly.  "Yes, of course I do."

"And you love Nick and Alex and Philip, too?"

"Yes, I do.  And I love you, too," he said, reaching out to tug her ponytail lightly.

She ducked her head and managed to keep her expression serious.  "Do you love my mom like Daddy does?"

Derek sat up straighter, then moved the cup from his knee to the floor.  "No, not like that," he admitted softly.  "But I do care deeply for your mother, Kat."

"But do you want to get married?"

His eyes rounded slightly, "Married?" he smiled thinly.

She scooted around slightly so she could see his face, then asked bluntly,  "Do you want to marry my mother and be my new father?"

Derek hesitated a moment, then asked in return, "And what would you say if I said yes?"

"That I don't want you to," she replied immediately

The conviction in her voice caught Derek by surprise.  "Why?"

Kat looked back at the tree, weighing her words with adult-like contemplation.  "Because my mom loves my daddy.  I saw them.  I know she still loves Daddy, even if he isn't here."

"Do you think she would stop loving your father if she married me?"

Kat nodded.  "And Daddy would go away," she said softly, her eyes filling with tears.

"Oh, no, Kat," Derek reassured.  "Love is much deeper than that.  More… magical."

She looked up at him skeptically and Derek reached out, resting a reassuring hand on her slender shoulder.  "No matter who your mother meets, who she might fall in love with, she will always love your father.  Just like she loves you and your brother – even though Connor's with your father on the other side.  Just like you love both your mother and your father."

"I guess," she said, sounding decidedly unconvinced.

"I'll share a secret with you," Derek said, dropping his voice to a near whisper.

"What?" Kat asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Even if I asked your mother to marry me, she would say no."

Kat's eyes rounded.  "She would?"

Derek nodded.  "Love is a very special kind of feeling… of magic."

"Magic?"

"Yes, magic," he told her, scooting around slightly so he could meet her gaze more easily.

"Why?"

"Because there are so many kinds of love."

"There are?"

"And the kind of love like your mother and father shared is one of the most powerful.  And the love your mother has for you is also very powerful."

Kat grinned slightly.  "What about the kind of love you've got for my mom.  Is that the kissing kind?"

Derek felt his cheeks redden slightly.  "Kissing is a part of many kinds of love," he said, bending forward to lightly kiss the top of her head.

Kat giggled.

"See?"

"I think so," she said.  "Do you ever kiss Alex?"

"Sometimes," Derek admitted.

"Nick?" she asked.

Derek fought back a smile.  "No, but that's only because boys don't like it once they reach a certain age."

"Connor hated it when Mom would kiss us before we left for school," she said sagely.  "He said it was icky."

"I think Nick would probably concur, unless it was a kiss from a pretty young woman."

Kat giggled again.  "Do you think maybe someday you'll want to marry my mom?"

"I don't know," Derek told her.  "Sometimes the kind of love you feel for someone will change…  It's not impossible.  But if that should ever happen, I promise you, your father would not leave you.  The love he feels for you is the most magical of all."

"Really?"

Derek nodded.  "How else do you think he was able to bring you a present all the way from the other side?"

She considered that for a long moment, then nodded.  "Then I guess it would be okay if you did."

"Did what?"

"Married my mom."

"I see," Derek replied.  "Well, on that we will just have to wait and see.  But don't hold your breath!"

A grin and giggle shifted suddenly to sadness.  "I miss my daddy," Kat said, pushing herself up and trotting over to retrieve her doll.  She carried it back to the tree and plopped down on Derek's lap.

"I know," he said, wrapping his arms around her.  "I still miss my father, too."

"Really?"

He nodded.  "Yes."

"Will it always make my chest hurt?"

"No, not always."

Kat rested against his chest, her doll cradled in her arms.  "I was really mad at you."

"I know," Derek said.

"You did?"

"Um-hmm."

"I'm not mad any more."

"Well," he said, giving her a rock from side to side, "I'm very glad to hear that."

"Me, too."

Kat sat up, twisting to look over Derek's shoulder.  "Mom," she moaned.

"I went to check on you," Rachel explained, "and I found an empty bed."

"But I'm not tired," the girl wheedled.

"It's after midnight, young lady.  Time for bed."

She glanced up, hoping to win Derek to her side, but the precept only nodded his agreement with her mother's assessment.  Kat sighed heavily.  Adults were no fun at all.

"Do you want me to take you up?" Derek asked.

"No," Kat replied stoically as she stood.  "I'm not a baby anymore."

"No, you're not," he agreed.

She gave him a hug, then marched past her mother, her rigid jaw leading the way.  Rachel watched her go before she allowed herself a smile.  "Sometimes I think she's growing up too fast," she said softly.

Derek climbed to his feet, then bent over and retrieved the empty tea cup.  "Not too fast, just faster than we'd like."

Rachel nodded.  "Is she okay?"

"Yes," Derek assured her.  "She just had to clear the air between us."

"The kiss?"

He nodded.

"And did you?"

"Yes," Derek said, grabbing the stuffed garbage bag.  Then, with cup and bag in hand he headed for the door.

Rachel fought back a grin.  "Derek?"

"Yes?" he asked, pausing at the doorway.

"What did you say?"

The precept's expression turned decidedly serious.  "Oh, I don't think I could say."

"You can't say?" she echoed, her eyebrows arching.

Derek shook his head.  "It would betray a trust."

She sighed and shook her head.  "Not even a hint?"

"Let's just say we had a long talk about love, marriage and kissing."

Rachel's eyes rounded slightly.  "But you—"

"That's what I told her."

"I see," Rachel replied.  "And you think she understood?"

"I think so."

With a nod, Rachel walked to Derek, planted a chaste kiss on his cheek and whispered, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Rachel."

The End


End file.
